


That Day

by JackieWepps



Category: Free!
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 10:47:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5704801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackieWepps/pseuds/JackieWepps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sun had long since set. Haruka was done eating dinner and cleaning the kitchen. It was then he heard the sound of someone knocking on the door.<br/>“Can I come in, Haru?” Makoto requested. </p><p>Set during their first year in high school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Day

The sun had long since set. Haruka was done eating dinner and cleaning the kitchen. Right now he was studying because he had to do so. He was a first year in high school after all. He had to study like everyone else, even though he would rather swim any day.

It was then he heard the sound of someone knocking on the door. Then someone rang the doorbell. It was probably the same person.

Since Haruka wasn’t in the bathtub right now, he had no excuse not to open, and nobody else would come do it for him. So he got up from the small table he was sitting by and went to open the door.

Outside he found Makoto who looked pretty shaken up. He wasn’t smiling like he did every time he saw Haruka. In fact he looked much more like he was about to break down. He looked beat. He looked… upset? Haruka had never seen Makoto like this before, but instinct told him to be gentle with his friend, even more than usual.

“Makoto?” he asked.

“Can I come in, Haru?” Makoto requested.

Haruka nodded and stepped aside, allowing Makoto to pass by before he shut the door. He then led the way to the kitchen to prepare some tea. He looked for the one that could ease the nerve the most. He figured that would be just what Makoto needed.

“Sorry if I interrupted anything,” Makoto said. He sat by Haruka’s table and had noticed Haruka’s school books lying there.

“It doesn’t matter,” Haruka answered, concentrated on preparing the tea.

And Makoto said nothing until Haruka returned with two cups of tea, one in each hand. There was one for himself, and one for Makoto.

Haruka sat down across from Makoto after placing the cup in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” Haruka asked, figuring he would have to start the conversation for a change.

Makoto grabbed the cup and held it tightly. “I…” He stopped and took in a deep breath. ”I experienced something today… My parents say I should talk about it as much as possible. I figured you’d listen,”

Haruka nodded and sent Makoto a look, issuing him to go on

Makoto took in a deep breath and then began to tell his story.

 

_“I was at the train station. I was waiting for the train that would take me home. You know, I was at the next town today, right? Anyways, I stood at the station. I had arrived not so long after my train had left, so I had to wait for the next one._

_I stood in my own thoughts. I was thinking about a lot of stuff and wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings. But then I suddenly picked up on an unfamiliar sound._

_I snapped out of my own thoughts and realized it was the sound of someone screaming. They weren’t screaming any words. They were just screaming a horrifying scream. It sounded as if they were insane._

_I looked to the direction of the screen and noticed a woman standing. I couldn’t see her clearly at first, so I thought she was standing on the platform with the rest of us. I walked closer to see if I could help her, but when I neared her, I realized she was standing on the track…”_

 

At this, Makoto stopped. His grip had tightened further around the cup and his knuckles were turning white from it. He hadn’t drunken any of the tea yet.

Haruka lifted his cup to his lips and drank a bit while keeping eye contact with Makoto. He only took a sip, but kept the cup by his lips until Makoto understood and drank some tea as well.

Both placed down their cups and Makoto continued to speak.

 

_“Looking at the time for the train to arrive, I noticed there were only two minutes left. That meant I had two minutes to calm the woman and get her off the tracks. So I called out to her at first, keeping my voice as calm as possible. I wanted to make her understand that I was here to help. I figured she wasn’t mentally stable and therefore I spoke to her like that._

_But she continued to scream._

_I tried to call out to her again, this time a bit more insisting. I wanted to get her off the tracks as soon as possible. But again she didn’t respond at all and I raised my voice and continued to try to make contact with her and help her get off the tracks, but she didn’t hear a word of what I was saying. It seemed that way at least. I became so worried that I considered jumping down on the tracks to help her up._

_After some time of calling out to her, I heard the train arrive and started yelling at her in desperation. If she had just a single grasp of mentality she should be able to realize the dangerous situation she was in and get off the tracks. I would help her if needed._

_Another person, a woman, stepped up and waved at the train driver, making him aware of the screaming woman on the tracks. He stopped the train and I stood there. I only then understood that I could have done that as well._

_A man and another woman came over. The man had a bike. He threw it aside and both he and the woman jumped down on the tracks to help the screaming woman. Meanwhile, I just stood as paralyzed, unable to see what I could do, unable to comprehend that the danger was over and that the woman was safe now.”_

 

Makoto’s shoulders were shaking; his entire body was shaking from thinking about the incident. “I don’t remember much of what else happened. I remember speaking to the woman who stopped the train. I remember that I withdrew from the scene. I remember that another train came to take us in the same direction. It came on another track, and we all went there instead. I told mom over the phone as soon as I got out of the train and she told me to come home and tell it to everyone. After I did that, she said I should go talk to others about it. You were the only one that came to mind,” Makoto finished speaking. Now even the corners of his lips were shaking.

Haruka kept a calm expression even if he didn’t know what to do, or how to react to this. He simply did as his instincts told him to do. He reached out a hand and placed it on Makoto’s shoulder for comfort. Their eyes met.

Then Makoto started crying. It wasn’t loud, like that of a child. It was just silent sobs and a waterfall of tears flowing down his face. He was pretty shaken up about it to say the least.

“While on the train, I considered things I could have done if not for my frozen state,” Makoto said. His voice cracked a bit here and there. “I could have done as the woman who stopped the train, or the man and woman who both jumped down to calm the screaming woman,”

“Makoto,” Haruka said, claiming Makoto’s attention. “You saved her,”

Makoto blinked. The flow of tears stopped immediately. “What do you mean, Haru?” he asked.

“If you hadn’t yelled at her, then no one would have noticed and reacted,” Haruka said. “You caused them to react,”

Makoto nodded once. Then more tears started flowing from his eyes. “I still feel like I did nothing,” he mumbled.

“You did your best,” Haruka said. He believed Makoto had done all he could in the given situation. Knowing himself, he wouldn’t even have reacted to begin with. Makoto was a hero. Even if not many would realize this, he had saved the life of a complete stranger. Now he was just paying the prize of being the hero.

Haruka knew that he would rather be in Makoto’s situation, but he also knew that he would never end there. He wouldn’t be able to do anything other than watch as it all happened in front of him. If he had been there instead of Makoto, the woman would surely have died.

But all in all there was one thing Haruka was more relieved of than any. He was both happy and relieved that Makoto hadn’t jumped down on the tracks to save her instead.

“Haru?” Makoto said as he noticed that Haruka had become lost in thoughts.

Haruka didn’t answer right away. He came to think about what he could do to help Makoto cope with what he had experienced today. He arrived at one conclusion he was sure would work.

“Makoto, stay over, and tell me the story again tomorrow,” he said. “You can tell it to me as much as you want,”

“Really?” Makoto asked. An expression of disbelief was showing on his face.

Haruka nodded and then went to prepare a bed for Makoto for the night. He walked upstairs and passed the bathroom with the full bathtub. He had planned to spend an hour or two there before he went to bed. But right now he felt no desire to do so. Right now, unlike any other time in his life, his top priority was Makoto. For once, water would have to come second.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rather personal work. It is based on something that actually happened to me at spring last year. I just suddenly started thinking about it again and wrote this in order to cope with it. I wrote this from Haru's POV, but in reality I'd be playing Makoto's role. I figured he would be the most likely to take the same actions as I did. Although, maybe he could have done something more.   
> The things Haruka says are things my mother, the rest of my family and my friend told me as well. The things Makoto talks about, are thoughts I have had in connection to this and things I have said as well.   
> I'll stop talking now, or the point of using Free! to express my story will be ruined completely. haha.   
> See you next time. 
> 
> Jackie


End file.
